Monday, May 16, 2011

Vegemite and Copyright

As I am enjoying our spring season, with longer days and warmer temperatures, those in the southern hemisphere are experiencing autumn. The EtsyBloggers team is blogging about the Land Down Under this month. I have never been on the other side of the equator, but when I think of the Land Down Under, the first thing that pops in my mind is Men at Work. My first cassette tape was Men at Work's Business as Usual which included the famous song, "Down Under."

Here is a video of the song, in which nearly every verse of the song is acted out in a literal fashion.



Re-watching the video for the first time in years led me to a Google search of the word vegemite. Vegemite is an Australian food paste spread made of brewer's yeast extract left over from beer production with salt, vegetables, and spices. Yuck, I'll stick to peanut butter, thank you!

In my online search for a definition of vegemite, I found out that in 2010 a federal court ruled that the flute rift in the song infringed copyrights on a children's rhyme, "Kookaburra", written by Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition in 1935. What do you think?




3 comments:

Missie said...

I had never heard of that lawsuit. I used to love vegemite when I was younger (got it from a penpal as a teen) but I tried it again just this week as a gift from a friend who just went to australia and I found I no longer enjoy the taste. Such a bummer, too!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bushes he. Laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra how gay his life must be.

I loved that song growing up! I hope those are the right words. hahaha

A Keeper's Jackpot said...

:)

Vegemite seems like an acquired taste!

Unknown said...

Vegemite is yummier than Marmite, everyone here has a preference and opinion :-)

Loved that Men at Work memory